Slowly Learning That Life is Okay
by TheLadyRikku
Summary: A curious Pan gets Bulma reminiscing on her life so far with Vegeta. Set after A Much Needed Break, but contains no spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

Well, I've been in a Bulma and Vegeta mood...so I decided to write a quick little story! Hope you like!

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It was another hot summer day at Capsule Corps. The boys were off training, naturally, and Videl had joined Pan and Bulma for the day.

Pan was sitting down, eyes closed and bare feet stretching out in the grass. Bulma and Videl sat next to her, drinks in hand.

"Phew! It's a hot one! I don't know how Vegeta and Trunks can handle training on days like these." Bulma said.

"Hm…hey Bulma, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, sweetie. What is it?"

"Well, Trunks said something that had me wondering. He said that he and Vegeta weren't close when he was a child. He was already in a bad mood, so I didn't want to ask him about it."

"Well, Vegeta wasn't the fatherly type when Trunks was born. It's a long story, actually."

"Oh… can you tell me?"

"Yeah! I haven't heard the story of how you tamed your prince." Videl winked

"Ohhh, he's not "tamed" per say. Eh, it wouldn't hurt to tell you two, just don't tell Vegeta! How much do you know already?"

"Well, I know he wasn't exactly a good guy to begin with." Videl said

" And Trunks had told me you two had a rocky relationship at first." piped in Pan.

"That's an understatement." laughed Bulma.

"Let's start from the beginning….your father told you about the Androids, right?"

"Yeah! When Trunks came back from the future to warn you about them."

"Vegeta returned to Earth not long before that. After we were warned, my father built the Gravity Room for Vegeta to train in. That's kinda where it all started."

"The Gravity Room?"

"While Vegeta was training, there was an accident that destroyed the chamber. He was hurt pretty badly and I was really concerned about him.

At some point before then, I started having feelings for Vegeta, probably because of Yamcha's behavior. Yamcha and I, we were good together…but not as a couple. He was never particularly serious about me; even after all of the years we were together. Now, I was no saint myself, but eventually I got tired of it.

A while after the accident, I finally called it quits with Yamcha after I caught him with another girl. We had a huge fight and I threw him out of my house. Vegeta witnessed the tail end of it and told me I should "just forget about him". Of course I got angry and started yelling at him. Then at that point I just started sobbing into his chest.

I didn't know at that moment that Yamcha was still outside, but Vegeta did. He decided to be an ass and rub it into Yamcha's face by kissing me."

"Whaaaat? Are you serious?" gasped Pan

"Completely. Yamcha and Vegeta never got along….I mean, Vegeta barely got along with anyone, but especially not Yamcha."

"And Yamcha saw the whole thing?"

"Yep."

"I bet he wasn't too thrilled."

"We didn't talk for weeks. We eventually became friends again, but it took a while. Later that night I ran into Vegeta again. Naturally, I was still angry. I yelled at him and then he just grabbed me and kissed me again, hard. Things escalated and we ended up in bed together. We both knew it wasn't going anywhere, but we didn't care. And of course, we didn't know any better at the time.

Vegeta kept up with his training to fight the Androids. He would be gone for days at a time. Not long after one of the times he left, I found out I was pregnant."

"How'd you tell him?"

"Well he was gone for quite a while. At first I was terrified my child would grow up without a father. I wasn't sure what to do, so I called Yamcha. He was furious when he found out. He asked me if I was going to keep my baby and I was so angry that I punched him square in the nose, almost broke it. He knew he deserved it and apologized, saying he was just angry because I should have known what I was getting myself into by getting involved with Vegeta.

Even after Vegeta came back, it took me weeks to tell him. The day I told him, I accidently interrupted his training. When I told him I needed to talk to him, all he said was 'What the hell is so important you have to interrupt me?' I yelled at him, called him an ass and then blurted out that I was pregnant. I was so mortified that I just ran away.

Later that night I was sitting on my bedroom balcony and he flew down next to me. I told him I was sorry for yelling at him. And then he apologized back to me, for the first time. He was awkward about it of course. I told him I was keeping the baby whether he wanted it or not. He looked at me like I had three heads! He told me 'of course I was keeping it!' and that was that. It surprised me to say the least. I knew he wouldn't want a child but he actually seemed like he was taking responsibility for it."

"Was he there when Trunks was born?"

"Yes, but he wasn't there when I gave birth. He showed that evening. I knew he had to be curious about his son, but he didn't even want to hold him. Truth was, he was afraid. He knew absolutely nothing about being a father. When I asked him what he remembered of his father, he just said he was never around. I got him to hold Trunks for a bit, but that was all. He had training to get back to. Still, there was something sweet about it, Vegeta holding Trunks. He didn't look annoyed or upset, he actually gave a little smirk at him.

At nights he would occasionally watch me with the baby, and a few nights I even caught him in the nursery watching Trunks, but Vegeta was so caught up in training that he rarely spent any time with him. I wasn't even sure if he was going to stay with us.

One day I asked him if he was going to leave. He looked at me and said 'Of course not, I have the Androids to fight.' He knew it wasn't what I was asking, but I think he wanted to avoid talking about the situation. At that point I was almost sure he was going to after the battles. There wasn't anything to keep him around after that, not Trunks, or even me."


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm sorry Bulma."

"Oh, don't be sweetie. After the Androids and Cell, things got much better.

Not long afterwards, I went up to him and asked him again if he was leaving. He walked up to me, looking angry. I took a step back, but his hands came up – one to my cheek, the other to Trunks's head – he looked me dead into the eyes and said 'I'm not going anywhere.' I burst into tears right then and there. And that was the first time I saw him genuinely smile. He wiped away some of my tears, and then pulled me into a hug. We only parted when Trunks began to whine from being smushed between us. I knew from then on everything would be ok."

"And things obviously did! Right?"

"Yes, but oh it took a while. Vegeta was scared to death to interact with Trunks at first, but he got used to it. He was better able to deal with it as Trunks got old enough to train." Bulma laughed at the thought.

"Well that just figures…." Pan said

"Yes, but that was how they bonded, so it didn't hurt. Vegeta may not have really been there for him when he was a baby, but he was around when it really counted. However, they still weren't very close until after Majin Buu."

"Yeah, Trunks told me that was the first time he could remember being hugged by his father."

"That time period was another turning point in Vegeta's life. You see, my husband realized he had become something totally different than he was before, and he was ashamed. He wanted to be the cold warrior that he used to be so…he let himself be overtaken. He regained control of himself to fight Majin Buu and, although he was unsuccessful, he sacrificed his life trying to save all of us. In the end, he realized that there were more important things in life than trying to be the 'Prince of all Saiyans'. It all paid off…Porunga decided that Vegeta wasn't evil and he was brought back to life. I swear, it was the happiest moment of my life."

Bulma closed her eyes, remembering the following night very clearly.

"What are you thinking about?"

"It's amazing how a single person can do so much."

"Who? Goku?"

Vegeta leaned against the railing of the balcony.

"No. I am speaking of you."

"Me?"

"You made me rethink my entire way of life, who I was supposed to be. Before you, I was a soldier; killing and destruction were the only things I knew. Then I was stuck on this blasted planet and things changed. I realized I began defending it because…you were here. The one person who could somehow find something good in me. For that reason, you slowly took over my mind. I think….I-I've always loved you, Bulma."

A single tear ran down Bulma's cheek. It was the first time that Vegeta had actually uttered those words to her. She went to kiss him, but he stopped her.

"You and our son had changed me into something I barely recognized. No longer was I unfeeling and without care. I had gone soft… and I hated it. I felt weak, useless. I was ashamed of what I had become. So I let my pride and desire for power overwhelm me and in turn, Babidi was able to take over me. You understand? I wanted that to happen!"

Now tears were freely flowing from her eyes.

"I don't care. You gave up your life to try to save us. I think that more than makes up for it. You….you are never useless or weak. Not to me. You stayed when I thought you wanted nothing more to beat Goku and leave me and Trunks for good. I could tell you were uncomfortable most of the time and everyday was a fight, but you still stayed. Words can never express how grateful – and proud – I am of you. We have come so far, do you think I would just leave when you didn't?"

Vegeta looked at his lover, astounded by the words that came out of her mouth. As he took her into his arms, he felt his anger and pain slowly drain from his body. For the first time in his life, he felt loved…needed…whole.

"Are…you still ashamed of what you are?" she whispered into his chest, then looked him in the eyes.

"No, and I never will be."

That was all she needed to hear. Bulma practically tackled him, crushing her lips against his. He gladly returned the kiss…and then some.

"That night, we poured our hearts out to each other. We talked about anything and everything – his father, life under Frieza, our relationship, Trunks..."

Bulma let a sigh escape her lips

"And….we finally mated."


	3. Chapter 3

"You hadn't already?" asked a surprised Videl

"No, I wasn't even aware of the practice until it happened. I barely even noticed until afterwards. At first I was furious that he had left a mark on me, but when he explained what had happened, I didn't care so much. He said that maybe we hadn't mated earlier because of how much he just wanted to be his former self and not someone who would be able to give himself completely to someone else."

"It wasn't long after then that we got married. Looking back, it was so adorable how he went about it. Naturally he wasn't too familiar with our customs, but he had been on Earth long enough to know the basics. One day he all but completely avoided me, I thought he was pissed off at something I said or did. The next morning I woke up to a surprisingly decently made breakfast from him. Where he learned how to cook, I have no idea." Bulma snorted at the thought

"I asked him what was going on and he just muttered something about 'stupid human rituals' and held out a hand to me. I took it and he bent down on one knee! Can you believe that?"

Pan and Videl looked stunned.

"Are you serious?"

"Completely. He looked so flustered and embarrassed but went through with it anyways. He pulled out a ring and asked me to marry him, since 'that was what humans did with their mates.' I was so happy that I practically tackled him. I hugged him as hard as I could and then it hit me….where had he gotten the ring?"

"Yeah, I was wondering that too…it's not like he had a job." said Videl

"Well, apparently he had already talked to my parents about it. I'm surprised my mother didn't spill the beans, she's horrible with keeping anything to herself." Bulma sighed

"At least you were married before Bulla came around!" Pan joked. "By the way, was that planned?"

Bulma laughed heartily.

"Oh goodness, no. Vegeta almost had a heart attack when I told him I was pregnant again, but I could tell he was happy. He certainly was much better prepared that time, but nothing really could prepare him when we got the news we were having a daughter."

"Was Trunks jealous that you were having another child?" asked Pan

"That was what I was afraid of. He was a little at first, but he was ok once she was born. I thought he would be jealous that Vegeta spent much more time around her than he was when Trunks was a baby, but he was fine. Of course, he was at the age where he was old enough to understand his father's past, so that helped. Vegeta and Trunks's relationship actually got stronger once Bulla was around. They both helped me care for her, which was surprising at Trunks's age. He still got jealous sometimes, but he absolutely adored her. By that time we all had pretty much settled down, though it was far from normal."

"Even now, it's still hard to imagine Vegeta as a family man, he's not that affectionate." teased Pan

"Yes, but he shows it in his own ways. He has gotten better, though. You know, that's one of my fondest memories…" Bulma trailed off, smiling.

"What is?" asked Videl

"Oh, what's the harm in telling you…One day, I asked Vegeta why he very rarely told me he loved me. He scoffed at me, but said – 'Do I need to constantly remind you that we have children?' I was so confused at first! I said 'Nooo?' and he replied 'Of course I don't, so why must I repeatedly remind you that I love you, when you already know that I do?'

"Awwww!" cooed Pan and Videl

"Well, that's that. You two know the rest."

"Oh my goodness! Look at the time!" Videl exclaimed. "The boys must be getting back soon."

"Yeah, I probably need to be getting home soon too." said Pan

"Awww, well come keep me company again soon!" said Bulma, giving goodbye hugs and kisses to Pan and Videl.

Vegeta returned soon after they left.

"So woman, what did you and your friends spend the day gossiping about?"

"Oh, you know…" Bulma said before she slunk over to where he was, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a kiss.

Vegeta was thoroughly confused.

-END-

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Trunks returned home after going out with Gohan and Goten to the bar. Pan greeted him at the door.

"Sorry I'm late! So how did your day go with Mom and Videl?" he asked

"It was good." she said quietly.

"Babe...is something wrong?"

"Trunks, I need to tell you something."

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This last little bit is set at the end of the story, but takes place in another one I'm going to be working on. Just a bit of a teaser. (MUAHAHAHA)

Thank you all for reading and reviewing! xoxo


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